A plane was compelled to make an emergency landing after a passenger's diarrhea was deemed a "biohazard".
Delta Flight 194 was two hours into a transatlantic flight from Atlanta to Spain on Friday (September 1) when the pilots decided to abandon the journey after a passenger's loose bowel spread throughout the plane.
In a text message sent to Air Traffic Control, the captain was straightforward in explaining the problem: "Divert to ATL - passenger diarrhea all over aircraft - biohazard," per Daily Mail.
"We’ve had a passenger who’s had diarrhea all the way through the airplane, so they want us to come back to Atlanta," the pilot also revealed in the audio snippet posted online.
The situation was distressing for everyone involved, with some with knowledge of the situation sharing their reactions to social media. One user - who goes by the handle @Woodyssea - penned: "My partner was on that flight! It was pretty bad. It was dribbled down the aisle, smelled horrible."
"The vanilla-scented disinfectant used on it only made it smell like vanilla s***. After the plane landed, it was thoroughly cleaned. They didn't leave until around 2:30AM," they continued.
In another tweet, the user added: "The flight was met by emergency vehicles and EMTs carried the sick passenger off the plane. My partner said the plane was cleaner when they got back on at 2:00AM than it was the first time they got on. No smell either."
A man named John Hurdt also said: "Both my wife and I were on the flight. It was a mess. The pilots made the right decision to turn around. The ground crew ripped out the carpet and put new in. Considering the circumstances, the ground crew did a great job, along the attendants and the pilots."
The Delta flight - which was meant to be eight to nine hours - left Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport just before 8:30PM but was back on the ground by 10:40PM, according to FlightAware.
While the identity of the passenger has not been disclosed, the travelers and crew were transferred and Flight DL194 finally made it to the destination at 5:10PM the next day - eight hours later than scheduled, per Flightradar24.
However, it has not been revealed if the passenger who had the diarrhea problem was aboard the aircraft when it touched down in Barcelona.
While the airline announced that the flight had an unanticipated medical crisis, they remained silent about the specifics. Per The New York Post, a Delta spokesperson said: "Our teams worked as quickly and safely as possible to thoroughly clean the airplane and get our customers to their final destination. We sincerely apologize to our customers for the delay and inconvenience to their travel plans."